Guy Fieri Is Being Blamed For A Pizzeria's Super Bowl Fail
Unsurprisingly, Guy Fieri has some tips for a great Super Bowl menu, but according to one pizzeria, the menu is the only part of party planning you'll want Fieri's help with. Guy's Flavortown Tailgate is an annual Super Bowl celebration hosted by the celebrity chef. Yet, at this year's event, one vendor was very disappointed with the turnout, and the folks behind the restaurant think Fieri is to blame.
Fieri's tailgate took place in Las Vegas before Super Bowl LVIII, and it was free for fans. Many stars, such as Gordon Ramsay, Eli Manning, and Sophia Culpo, attended the event, which also featured performances by Dustin Lynch, Diplo, and Flavor Flav. Despite the presence of those high-profile people, it didn't go over so well with some of the event's food vendors. Fieri's involvement in what some have called a disappointing event is why he is getting pushback. The folks at Yukon Pizza, one of the vendors at the event, took to Facebook to air their grievances and called the event "a bust," adding, "We are disappointed in Guy Fieri."
One local Las Vegas restaurant prepared way too much food for the event
Yukon Pizza, a downtown Las Vegas pizzeria, prepared plenty of food for Guy's 2024 Flavortown Tailgate. On February 12, the day after Super Bowl LVIII, the restaurant posted an image of sausages and a message about the tailgate to its Facebook page. According to the post, the restaurant "sold 10% of the sandwiches we were told to prepare for this event." Yukon Pizza adds, "Turns out, when major corporate sponsors offer up mountains of free food inside the tailgate, no one wants to buy food from the local vendors."
There was, in fact, free food at this tailgate. Attendees were offered Fieri's specialty Trash Can Nachos, surely a coveted snack among the guests. Aside from this, more than 25 restaurants dished up food, giving folks plenty to choose from. Perhaps too much. Not only was the event touted as a record-breakingly large tailgate, but it was also marketed as a free party. The presence of free food shouldn't have come as a surprise to the vendors, but it seems that they weren't explicitly told by organizers. It's also unclear what the organizers communicated to the vendors or what kind of sales they were told to expect. Even so, it's worth noting that the restaurant did get some free advertising and brand recognition out of the event, even if it didn't sell as much food as expected.
Guy Fieri is getting flack for the event's lack of organization
It's easy to see that Yukon Pizza's expectations for the event were not met. There may have even been some poor planning at play. Yet, Yukon Pizza's Facebook post specifically called out Guy Fieri for the surplus of food they were left with after the event. The post reads, "We are disappointed in @guyfieri — it's obvious he doesn't care about the community of local chefs who worked extremely hard to prepare for this tailgate. A whole team of hardworking events people had to watch as customers ignored dozens of local restaurant booths. We're grateful for [those] who did stop by."
Yukon Pizza believes that Fieri could have done more to ensure the success of local restaurants at his event. Still, it's difficult to know just how much of a hand in the tailgate's details the Food Network star had. According to Fieri, his idea for the event was a way to let folks in the area who didn't have tickets to the Big Game celebrate in style. "Why don't we throw a party for them, to let them come, and really get an experience, feel the energy of the Super Bowl?" he told People. So, it seems that Fieri had good intentions. While this may have been his brainchild, he possibly had a minimal role in the specifics.
Fieri has consistently supported restaurant workers
While Yukon Pizza called out Guy Fieri for his lack of support for local restaurant workers, that accusation doesn't align with Fieri's track record. The celebrity chef is known for his Food Network series "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," which brings attention to small eateries throughout the United States. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he didn't want to stop highlighting restaurants, so he created the "Take Out" edition to keep the show going safely.
The COVID lockdown negatively affected many U.S. restaurants. Fieri addressed this issue by founding the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. The Fund has given 43,000 restaurant workers $500 each and raised a whopping $21.5 million for the restaurant industry. Fieri told CBS, "I started sending out personal video messages to all the CEOs that had any connection to the restaurant association: Pepsi, Coke, Cargill, Keurig, Dr. Pepper, you name it."
Given these facts, it seems that restaurant workers and their success are close to Fieri's heart. Restaurants losing money at his tailgate goes against those values. Luckily, Yukon Pizza was able to make lemonade out of lemons or, in this case, way too many sausage sandwiches. Yukon's Facebook post states, "We're gonna turn this around and offer sausage sandos while they last!"